Third Quarter 2021
Third Quarter 2021
Summer is here!
Mayor’s Message July 9, 2021
Happy Friday to All!
My weekly message this week is a history lesson titled “Why does the Mayor write a weekly message?” The genesis of my reasoning for writing this message was a recent exit interview where a former employee commented that “sending a “go team” weekly email is crap and not good for morale.” Yes, that did sting a little bit but it also helped me understand that sometimes we (management) must do a better job of communicating the “why” behind some of our actions.
When we came into office in 2008 we were naive in our thinking about city government, having only heard from others who “knew how city hall worked”. We assumed we would find employees who didn’t care, wasting money, with no clear focus on citizens. Instead we found you, employees who bust their tail each day, continuing to do more with less, and fully committed to our citizens. It was an absolute pleasant to find the truth out and we enjoyed going to work with city hall to define a mission and improve quality of life over the next few years. One message that we heard often from our employees in those first few months in office was that they wished more was shared with them when it came to other departments and city functions. They were in silos.
So, in an effort to improve communication and share information, I asked each Department Head to send me their success “bullets” each Friday by noon. What special things happened this week? What would other departments benefit by knowing? My directions for the information was that they could send it in any format they chose and that spending anything more than 10 minutes on creating it was most likely going too deep into the weeds. Each week (or 2) I sit down and compile the weekly message, pulling from each email or word document the tidbits, events, and stats. Some departments sent a lot, some not so much. Each time I hit send I am proud of being part of our City of Madison team and happy to share information and accomplishments throughout City Hall. The goal was, and still is, better communication to share successes and break down silos.
As I close, let’s add the “go team” piece.
We are managing the best zip code to live in in Alabama (says AL.com) and doing an incredible job doing it. Our town has grown to over 50,000, which is still amazing to me. Our Tennessee Valley community is positioned to grow dramatically in the next 20 years and Madison will be a landing spot for another 10,000-15,000 people.
To manage this effectively let’s continue to focus on our mission statement;
City of Madison Mission Statement
“The City of Madison’s mission is to provide excellent services through responsible use of public resources, enhancing the quality of life for our community”
To accomplish our mission statement let’s continue to use our guiding principles;
We aspire to
· Do what is right – Not what is easy
· Create actionable results for our citizens
· Create actionable results for our employees
· Share our subject matter expertise
· Use technology and training to be more efficient and offer a better overall product
On behalf of our Madison residents Thank You for your efforts.
Hope all of you have a fantastic weekend.
Respectfully,
Mayor Finley
Mayor’s Update July 11-18
Team,
What a busy, transitional week we had at city hall.
· The City welcomed Lisa Thomas as our new City Clerk, Johnny Gandy as our new Chief of Police, and Michael Griffin as our new City Engineer.
· In addition to conducting a Council meeting on her first day in office Lisa reports the City Clerk office also opened six request for information requests, helped with six notary public requests, continued to archive old records, and receipted almost $600,000 in Revenue.
· Engineering finalized a traffic study for Fernbridge Blvd for Crowne Pointe HOA, prepared to move their GIS data to a newly installed virtual server, and they are reviewing the SWMPP and undergoing revisions to the master document to be updated.
· Engineering also gave updates on our two main road projects.
o Sullivan Update
§ Grading Crew is working to establish the new grade on the west side of the roadway south of Royal.
§ Base touch up north of Grayson anticipated for the remainder of this week then curb line set up will start next week.
§ Pipe crew is anticipated to start on the West side storm pipe installation in the near future.
§ Contract is 38% complete, with item expenditures, and 326 calendar days remaining (140 were added for the Northern extension)
o Hughes Update
· Traffic has been shifted to the west side of the roadway, eastern lane of roadway has been barreled off to allow for East side work to start.
· Carcel & G is working with Madison Utilities to TV the sewer lateral service lines and verify there will not be a conflict.
· Met with Magnolia tree owner on Monday to discuss the tree trimming, arborist recommended a trimming contact. Superintendent is aware of communication with owner.
· Contract is close to 50% complete, with item expenditures, and 136 calendar days remaining.
· Chief Gandy reported MPD conducted 1222 calls for service for the week and in addition to normal policing added extra focus on neighborhood vehicle burglaries.
· MPD also reported that Detective Teresa Taylor-Duncan, Detective Russell Owens, and Officer Cheryl Wooden conducted RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) training class for 13 participants
· We received new stats from our Rocket City Trash Pandas. Total announced attendance is 158,289 over our 26 home openings, average Home Attendance is 6,088, which leads all of Double-A and ranks 4th in Minor League Baseball behind only Triple-A teams Nashville, El Paso, and Las Vegas.
· Banners signaling the entrance to Historic Downtown Madison have been hung in four locations – helping to promote the area and support our downtown businesses. These are a temporary placeholder while the City works on its broader wayfinding program.
· Deputy Chief Williams reported that our Madison Fire & Rescue responded to 91 incidents, 61 of which were EMS related.
· MFR also has conducted 437 new construction inspections during our fiscal year and this week they also conducted 3 child restraint seat inspections.
· Public Works continues to work on the Mahan/Miller project. This week they poured two drainage box bottoms, framer two walls, and started on the round-about.
· Throughout our rainy week Public Works has also cleaned multiple ditches, unclogged drains, and cut up fallen trees.
· Building had a busy week creating 123 permits, issuing 97. They performed 117 inspections and Code enforcement created 20 new cases and picked up 16 signs in the ROW.
· Court opened 32 cases, closed 45, and issued 37 warrants.
· Our city team held the pre-bid meeting for the Garner Street improvement project which will support our new middle school.
· Our 2021-2022 budgets are now being worked in each department. Thanks to finance for helping make the process fairly painless.
· Several of our employees including Mariela Ruiz, Westa Carlton, Terri Towry, Jason Colee, Roger Bellomy, and Steve Smith worked to solve a system wide payroll problem that was negatively affecting our employees. As I write this my fingers stay crossed that we have solved the problem.
Yesterday I was cleaning up in my home office and I came across some notes that I had taken at a seminar a few years ago. The speaker was talking about first impressions and the importance of smiling….on the phone. My notes read “smile as you answer.” The speaker detailed that each time she gets ready to answer her phone, she takes a deep breath, and then smiles as she answers. She conveyed that initially she had to concentrate on doing it, but that it eventually became habit. She feels her overall attitude is better and she knows her customer service has improved. Thanks to each of you who work hard each time you touch one of our citizens or employees with a “smile when you answer.”
Hope you have a great week,
Respectfully,
Mayor Finley
Mayor’s Update July 19-30
Good Sunday Morning Team!!
It has been an extremely busy two weeks in and throughout Madison with tons of activity…..here are some of the high lights;
· Our Building Services team continues to “fight” our old, sometimes archaic air conditioners throughout city buildings. Thanks to the entire team for helping to “keep the air on”….much appreciated!
· Building created 168 permits, issued 166, and performed 259 inspections during the two weeks.
· Code Enforcement performed 65 inspections, created 46 new cases, and picked up 59 signs from the ROW.
· Madison Fire & Rescue recognized 38 people at this week’s city council meeting for life saves from 5 different calls. Agencies included Madison Fire & Rescue, Madison Police Dept, HEMSI, Decatur Police Dept., and a Huntsville Hospital Nurse.
· Madison Fire & Rescue had 223 incident responses during the two weeks, 163 of them which were EMS related. To date they have also conducted 456 new construction inspections this fiscal year.
· Our IT Team has been managing phone system issues and continued cyber security threats in addition to adding a new web security system. Thanks to everyone who continues to do their part to be vigilant on cyber security, especially our IT Team.
· Court had a busy two weeks opening 107 cases, closing 107, and issuing 42 warrants.
· Activities our City Clerk Team performed included answering Requests for Information, acting as Notaries, placing ads for Gov Deals and the Madison Record, finalizing City Council meeting documents, and most importantly receipting over $4.2 million dollars.
· Engineering reports that the Balch/Gillespie Roundabout has started back as issues for grading have been resolved by using the engineering department for QC/QA.
· Our IT Team has partnered with Keith Conville in GIS to move our GIS system onto a new server platform. Users should see greatly enhanced speed.
· We opened bids for the Garner Street project that supports our new Journey Middle School and they came in at $2,016,565.83, very close to our original estimate. We will bring this to council for approval at our next meeting.
· Our City Prosecutor conducted 199 cases during the two weeks.
· Commercial projects are continuing to move forward, with medical office, senior housing and a gas station gaining approvals. Two new dentist offices have been approved (Madison Blvd and County Line), 12 units of senior independent living are being added to the complex at the north end of Wall Triana Hwy, and a gas station is planned for Hughes Rd across from Ace Hardware.
· The Planning Commission approved a 17,000 sf addition to Bob Jones High School as a self-contained wing for Special Needs students. The District will also complete parking lot, landscaping and lighting improvements.
· Sgt. Dawe and SRO Officers held a Community Event “Cookout with a Cop” for several local apartment complexes. The event was sponsored by the Madison Police Foundation.
· Chief Gandy and Major Stringer attended Back the Blue Event in Morgan County with Governor Ivey and State Attorney General Steve Marshall.
· Our Madison Police responded to 2114 calls during the two weeks. I am also appreciative that they issued 59 warnings during that time.
· Two very cool pieces of info came from Madison Fire as E-3/Sq-3 Handed out fire helmets @ Bruster’s to all the kids getting ice cream(15+ kids) and they also sprayed down kids from JCHS band during their annual water gun fight.
· Revenue (well Cameron) reports that for the month of July, 2021, total revenues collected by the Revenue Department were $4,119,501.75. Sales tax collections for the month of July, 2021 are up 12.39% over sales tax collections for July, 2020 are up 17.19% over the same period last fiscal year.
· Public Works reports that the CIP crew poured the roundabout on the Mahan drive, poured a box and 2 box lids, poured 50 feet of curb and gutter in the Mahan drive project, and installed 56 feet of pipe as well.
· Public Works has also multi-tasked throughout our rainy two weeks cleaning clogged ditches, cutting up fallen trees, repairing damaged drain pipe, and multiple other key projects to keep water moving.
· Summer Day Camp is winding down. The last day of the program is August 3,2020.
· Departments continue to consult with Roger in Finance concerning next years budget.
· Our small “Tiger Team” interviewed the two finalists for leading our Comprehensive Plan projects.
· Many of us took a tour of the new Midtown Elementary School, ready to open this month. Fantastic facility ready for our kiddos.
As you can see I wasn’t kidding, our City of Madison team is busy.
I simply cannot believe it is already August. Hope everyone has a fantastic week!
Respectfully.
Mayor Finley
Mayor’s Update August 1-8
City of Madison Team,
Last Monday night I represented our City of Madison at a social on Redstone Arsenal hosted by General Ed Daly, head of the Army Material Command, for Secretary of the Army, Christine Wormuth. Throughout the night Madison was discussed multiple times. From being the number one zip code to live in Alabama to our Trash Pandas to being General Daly’s home (and where his youngest starred in baseball at Bob Jones and recently played for Texas in the College World Series) we were complimented and included as a teammate. Needless to say I was one proud Mayor for our city and our City of Madison Municipal team.
Here are just a few of the high lights and activities from last week.
· Madison Fire and Rescue did 4 car seat installations this week. I received an email with that following…….”I too work in public service and only wish all of the people I work with here in the City of Huntsville were as cheerful, helpful and professional as your people who educated and helped me with the installation of my granddaughter’s car seat this morning. My visit to Madison Fire Station 1 could not have gone any more perfect! Congratulations to those men and women who are employed by the City of Madison Fire Department and to you for leading such an outstanding group! Thanks again!”
· And, an email from a citizen this week included this…..”Thank you very much for your quick response. I am pleased to hear that a temporary solution will be coming. Your understanding is also appreciated. More reasons to love living in Madison – city officials that care.”
· Dustin reports that the permitting division created 79 permits, issued 90 of them, and the inspectors performed 138 inspections. In addition Code Enforcement performed 48 inspections/ re-inspections, and created 26 new cases while picking up 18 signs in the ROW.
· Our Madison Fire and Rescue had a busy week completing 8 new construction inspections, bringing their total to 464 completed FY21. They responded to 118 incidents, 89 of which were EMS related.
· Our Public Works team laid 200 foot of pipe and repaired two trench failures on the Mahan/Miller Drainage project.
· Our city awoke Tuesday morning to a lot of graffiti along Kyser Blvd. The PW crew spent two days cleaning it off….thank you guys!!
· Chief Gandy had a busy week as he attended the 2021 Summer Alabama Association Chief of Police Conference in Orange Beach and then met with Madison City Schools Superintendent Nichols.
· Our HR team has been busy this year on many things including hiring. HR has processed over for 1430 applications this fiscal year so far, filling 139 positions. This included 45 Regular positions and 94 Temporary positions that were filled. Of the 45 Regular positions filled, 31 were Internal job transfers, primarily promotions.
· Municipal Court opened 58 cases, closed 84 cases, issued 20 warrants and had a deposit of $21, 517.86.
· Our City Clerk’s office stayed busy completing seven Request for Information, logging three more, helping folks with 15 notaries, and receipting almost $500,000 for the city.
· Engineering provided a great recap of many of our CIP and larger projects including;
Hughes
· Carcel & G worked on vetting utility conflicts on the East side of Hughes south of Plaza Blvd.
· Fence installer has progressed with the railing install currently working in front of BJHS.
· Magnolia Tree trimming work is tentative for the week of August 16th.
· Lack of pavement transitions from Hughes into the neighborhood streets and businesses are being evaluated, Carcel &G sub-contractor will need to provide a temporary fix.
Sullivan
· Pipe crew has installed storm pipe along the West side of Sullivan with the exception of the AT&T fiber conflict just North of Royal Drive.
· AT&T is anticipating relocation to take place on 8/17/2021. This will address the Fiber North of Royal Drive on the West side of the roadway and the Fiber South of Kyser on the East side of the roadway.
Balch & Gillespie Roundabout
· Contractor time has resumed as of 8/5/2021.
Short Street
· RGI is working on the waterline installation, they encountered a utility conflict had to re-lay a portion of the installed waterline in order to gain clearance below the utility.
Shorter Drainage Phase 1
· Arch pipe was initially anticipated for delivery on 8/1/2021. RGI contacted supplier on 8/5/21 and new delivery date is anticipated for 8/19/2021.
Looking forward to another great week….thanks again to each of you for your focus on our city and the citizens that we work for.
Have a great week,
Respectfully,
Mayor Finley
Mayor’s Update August 8-15
Good Morning,
Let’s start by celebrating the Census numbers…..Madison, Alabama is still the 10th largest city in the state of Alabama, growing 33% from 42,938 in 2010 to 56,933 in 2020. That is an increase of 13,995 citizens, the 3rd largest increase of citizens in Alabama behind only Huntsville (34,901) and Auburn (22,763).
Also want thank Terri Towry in HR for leading the charge in updating Section 12 in our Employee Policy Manual. Many positive changes for our employees. Unfortunately the Delta variant of Covid has necessitated the need for Terri to also update our Temporary Covid 19 policies. Kelly Rolin will be sending the updated information to everyone first thing tomorrow morning.
Lots of other activities going on, here are just a few;
· All Departments completed their 2022 budget on time and Finance has now forwarded the requests to the Mayor’s office. We will be meeting with Department Heads this week to review. Thanks to Roger Bellomy for his many hours of focus in compiling this.
· Planning and Engineering staff held a kick-off meeting with trail consultants to determine the best way to connect the multi-use path that traverses Town Madison to the future multi-use path that will serve downtown. The feasibility study is being completed in conjunction with the Singing River Trail organization.
· A Panda Express restaurant is the latest addition to the Town Madison development, with plans in the final approval stage.
· The Madison Blaze soccer club hosted a 50 team soccer tournament August 7-8, 2021 at Palmer/Dublin Park. The event went well and they expect to host another tournament in Madison next year.
· The City Council approved the purchase of playground and shade structures at the August 9, 2021 City Council meeting. Staff placed the order for the equipment this week and submitted installation specs to legal to bid the installation. This is a great use of a portion of our Covid 19 CARES Act money.
· MARS completed 135 trips this week.
· Phone System Project– After a thorough evaluation of a few options, IT has selected our replacement for the antiquated phone system. The city will be moving to a cloud provider that will include all of the features of our legacy phone system, while adding features such as teleconferencing, web conferencing, internal instant messaging, workgroup collaboration software, emergency alerts, and many other features. We will be taking this proposal to council on August 23rd.
· Madison Fire and Rescue had 108 incident responses last week, 80 of which were EMS related.
· Madison Police conducted 1123 calls for service last week.
· Engineering continues to stay busy on multiple projects. Updates are as follows;
Hughes
· Project time is currently stopped pending a storm water plan revision to the East side drainage, once revisions are determined hydro excavation will start.
· Fence installer has not been on site this week, fencing is still a working item.
· Magnolia Tree trimming work is currently set for 8/18/2021.
· Lack of pavement transitions from Hughes into the neighborhood streets and businesses are being evaluated, Carcel &G sub-contractor will need to provide a temporary fix tentative for the week of 8/16/2021. Item of work was brought forward from council and citizen complaints.
Sullivan
· Project time is currently stopped pending AT&T relocations.
· AT&T is anticipating relocation of the 2 conflict locations between 8/11/2021 and 8/24/2021. This will address the Fiber North of Royal Drive on the West side of the roadway and the Fiber South of Kyser on the East side of the roadway.
· Flume work has started for Gordon Drive Drainage.
Balch & Gillespie Roundabout
· Contractor is working on aggregate clean-up and proof roll of the NW and SW corners.
· Asphalt placement start is tentative for the week of 8/16/2021.
· Closure of the Eastern leg is set to begin next week and detour installed.
Short Street
· RGI is working on the waterline installation, waterline is installed from Shorter to Bradley, pending backfill, testing and service connections.
Shorter Drainage Phase 1
· RGI contacted supplier on 8/5/21 and new delivery date is anticipated for 8/19/2021.
· Coordinated with Homepark contractor to set grades for their portion so they can continue working.
Bradford Farm
· Premier is working on the tree grinding for Change Order #3.
· HOA sprinkler system item is not yet resolved. Checking with a local provider for cost.
Next week has a fairly high possibility of large amounts of rain and wind. Thanks ahead of time to Public Works, Police, Fire, Engineering, Building, and everyone else who steps up when weather impacts our city. Madison is a great city to live in and you guys continue to make a positive impact for all 56,933 citizens!!
Have a great week.
Respectfully,
Mayor Finley
Mayor’s Update August 16-29
Good Sunday Morning,
First and foremost, our hearts are with our 13 serviceman who lost their lives this week along with the families who lost a loved one.
Our last two weeks have been incredibly busy….here are a few of our high lights;
· The Planning Commission approved a 4-story, 100 plus room hotel along Intergraph Way north of I-565.
· Our Court team was busy opening 133 cases, closing out 128, and issuing 47 warrants during the two weeks. And it is great to see Cheri back!!
· Croy Engineering has submitted a draft Master Plan for the former Three Springs Property. We plan on reviewing this plan with the Recreation Advisory Board, Mayor’s Office, and ultimately bring it to City Council for approval.
· Sadly, due to “the Covid” the Madison Street Festival committee has had to cancel our 2021 Street Festival this year.
· Detective Danny Pettus and the Madison Police Department hosted a Drone Demo for police agencies across the state.
· Chief Gandy along with Councilwoman Bartlett attended the HOA Clift’s Cove Meet and Greet and answered community questions.
· Our City Clerk team, in addition to “normal” duties of placing equipment on Gov Deals, notary support, answering community information requests, archiving departmental info, and distributing our mail, successfully receipted over $3,600,000 during the two weeks.
· Madison Fire and Rescue conducted 13 addition new construction inspections bringing their total to 484 fiscal YTD.
· Madison Fire and Rescue responded to 240 incidents, 174 of which were EMS related.
· Our Human Resources team sent out a reminder….if you have or will have a change in status (new baby, child turning 26, marriage or divorce, or retirement) please notify them immediately. Our insurance company is showing very little (if any) flexibility if we miss 30 day deadlines.
· Revenue reports that sales tax collections for the month of August, 2021 are currently up 12.28% over the same month in 2020 with total collections for the month of August, 2021 by the Revenue Department at $3,933,845.58, an increase of $525,333.41 over the total amount collected in August, 2020.
· Revenue also posted the position of Revenue Technician.
· Building reported that last week the permitting division created 85 permits and issued 76, the inspection division performed 134 inspections, Code enforcement performed 23 inspections/re-inspections, and created 16 cases.
· Our Public Works crews supported our Madison City Schools bus drivers by cutting/trimming trees and bushes at multiple locations for improved visibility. In addition they cleaned out and cut multiple drainage ditches ahead of the heavy rains we are anticipating this week.
· Congratulations to Christina Cox, hired as Administrative Supervisor in Recreation. Christina served as interim in this position since the retirement of Elise Kirkland.
· This week the Senior Center added 5 new clients, 128 total clients signed in with 221 swipes. Those clients participated in 542 events for a total of 612.5 hours. A total of 318 meals were served.
· During the two week our MARS vans completed 270 trips for residents.
· Our Madison Police logged 2443 calls for service during the two weeks. We are also excited that Officer Luke Alexander, Officer Logan Arnold, Officer Benjamin Bradford, Officer Duran Cornelius, and Officer Shanal Singh began their 14 weeks of training at the Police Academy in Selma, AL
· Our Citizens Advisory Committee is now complete and they have now been through orientation. Thanks to Major Stringer, Chief Gandy, City Attorney Megan Zingarelli, and multiple MPD officers for their time and efforts.
· Officer Shannon DeFazio was recognized as “Officer of the Year” at the 2nd Annual Back the Blue Event hosted by HomeTown Lenders at Toyota Field. Captain Allen and several officers were in attendance for the event.
· City Administrator Steve Smith and I continue to meet with departments as we work to finalize our budget. We plan on handing it off to the Finance Committee this week for their review. Thank to Roger Bellomy for his continued focus and support throughout this process.
· I met with John Cooper and Curtis Vincent at ALDOT to discuss our plan for the Town Madison fly-overs. We hope to bring this plan to council at the September Work Session.
· Our “Tiger Team” has made solid progress on our updated public comments policy and Council will have a second reading and vote at the September 9th meeting.
I will close by thanking each and every one of you for all that you do for our city. Madison continues to be an incredible city and I am so proud to be your Mayor. Please keep our service men and women and our county in your thoughts and prayers this week.
Respectfully,
Mayor Finley
Mayor’s Update August 30-September 12
City of Madison Team,
We have definitely moved into fall with football Saturday’s and cooler mornings. I hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend!
We had another busy two weeks….here are a few of the high lights.
· The City of Madison Honor Guard hosted a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at Toyota Field to remember the lives lost on 9-11-01.
· Our Madison Fire and Rescue conducted 26 new construction inspections during the two weeks brining their total to 510 for the year. Also during the two weeks they responded to 248 incidents, 198 of which were EMS related.
· The Mayor’s Office has now passed our budget recommendations to the Finance Committee and they will now take the needed time to analyze and then recommend to our full City Council.
· We conducted our first meeting of the Governance Transition Team.
· Our Public Works team was focused on cutting and cleaning out ditches and cutting back trees/bushes for better visibility.
· Chief Gandy and Command Staff met with Mr. Zook from Alabama Municipal Insurance/ Worker’s Comp to review Department Policies, Procedures, and Practices and receive update on claims filed. MPD does very well compared to other agencies of comparable size with lower claims.
· MPD had 2273 calls for service during the two weeks.
· Our Court team reported 134 new cases, closed out 128, and issued 61 warrants during the two weeks.
· I spoke to the Madison Rotary Club giving them an update on all that was going on in Madison. They continue to support our city in many positive ways, one of which was a $50,000 donation to Homeplace Park
· Recreation met with Huntsville Utilities concerning getting power service to the Bradford Creek Trailhead. We anticipate this project will be completed by the end of the month. The portable restroom will be placed on site as soon as power is available
· The fountain for the Dublin Park pond has shipped. The fountain will be installed by the end of the month pending weather.
· Congratulations to Levonia Ayers as she was promoted from Senior Center Director after serving as the Interim Director since last November.
· Kory Alfred met with the contractor for the Palmer Park Expansion this week. The trail head located at the east entrance of Palmer Park will need to be closed for a couple days to lay the base for paving. Staff has made notifications on the website and social media.
· The Ballcorps Team and our Trash Pandas dropped off a $125,000 check for the 2nd and 3rd installments of 2021, keeping them up to date!
· Our Revenue Department reports that total sales tax collections for the month of August, 2021 are up 12.39% over collections for the month of August, 2020 and year to date collections are up 16.71% over the same period last fiscal year.
· Building reports that the permitting division created 157 permits, issued 162, and the inspection division performed 269 inspections.
· Code enforcement performed 33 inspections/re-inspections, created 14 new cases, and picked up 6 signs in the right of way.
· Our Public Works team is on the final stage of their improvements to Mahan/Miller.
· The IT Team installed new Wi-Fi equipment at the Firestation#4/PD shop/Celtic facility this week. This equipment will allow connectivity to network resources as vehicles and other equipment are staged and configured at that facility.
· IT also started the configuration of the new phone system this week. The IT team has accounts setup and we are working through the migration strategy to make this as smooth as possible.
· We conducted an internal meeting with our consultants concerning the Town Madison project and the Fly-Overs. They plan on giving council an update next Wednesday night at our work session.
Michelle Dunson in Engineering passed along an update on our multiple road/construction projects throughout the city.
Hughes
· Project time is currently stopped pending a storm water plan revision to the East side drainage.
· Hydro-excavation has been completed and GPS shots sent to S&ME.
· Magnolia Tree trimming work has been rescheduled tentative for 9/15/2021.
· Carcel & G is working to reschedule paving contractor to address tie in locations along Hughes.
Sullivan
· Project time is currently stopped pending AT&T relocations.
· AT&T is working to provide an update on the relocation timeframe. This will address the Fiber North of Royal Drive on the West side of the roadway and the Fiber South of Kyser on the East side of the roadway.
· Minor items are being addressed on site.
Balch & Gillespie Roundabout
· Full Closure started on 9/7/2021.
· Storm pipe installation is nearing completion.
· Installation of upper and lower binder is in process.
· Removal of asphalt on South leg started this week.
Short Street
· Installation of storm pipe is complete. Forming of storm junction boxes and inlets is in process.
· RGI has experienced issues receiving concrete from plant this week.
Shorter Drainage Phase 1
· Forming of Wing walls on Box culvert anticipated to start next week.
Bradford Farm
· Premier finishing work on Northern Section.
· HOA sprinkler issue still working.
Garner Extension
· Reached out to the school about using a portion of the stadium parking lot as a Laydown area, currently awaiting response.
· Redi- Rock Manufacturer has majority of material ready to be shipped.
· Action Items from Pre-construction meeting are being addressed.
MU Water Project – Highland Drive
· Contractor located leak on the phase 4 section of waterline, area was repaired and pressure tested.
· Next week chlorination testing will start and afterward service connections will begin in Phase 4.
As I close I would like to take a quick minute to thank each and every one of you who continue to provide excellent service to our citizens. We have an incredible city!
Let’s have another exciting and productive week.
Respectfully,
Mayor Finley
Mayor’s Update September 12-24
Good Friday Afternoon!
What a beautiful afternoon! No rain is in sight, football and fall sports are in full swing, and we are heading into to a fabulous fall weather weekend.
As you get ready to enjoy, here are a few of our last two weeks highlights.
· Madison, Alabama was named #12 in Money Magazine’s Top 50 Best Places to Live in the United States. What a huge honor for our city!! You can read all about it at our Best Places to Live in America 2021-2022
· Our City Budget has now been passed on to the full Council and it is on the agenda for approval Monday night. It does include an employee step increase and $0 increase for employee insurance costs.
· Our first public meeting of the Madison Police Citizens Advisory Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, September 29th at 6:00 in Council Chambers.
· Ballcorps presented the city with two checks ($473,346.84 and $13,082.94) finalizing their 2020 payments and they are also current on their 2021 payments. More to follow next update on their incredibly positive first season.
· Building services tended to several leaking toilets, replaced bulbs and ballasts on lights, added a new plug for the Police Dept. Conference room, troubleshooting an HVAC issue at the Library, and is working with the contractor to finish carpet and baseboard on the upper level of city hall.
· During the two weeks building also created 188 permits, issued 188 permits, and issued 8 C.O.’s with one being the BUBBLERUN Car wash at 1633 Hughes Rd.
· Code enforcement created 34 new cases.
· Our Madison Fire Marshall has completed 530 total inspections in FY 21.
· Madison Fire and Rescue responded to 174 incidents, 110 of which were EMS related.
· Chief Gandy and Officer Mike Jones are attending the Lateral Police Academy at Jacksonville State in Anniston, AL for 2 weeks, with next week being their final week.
· Madison Police responded to 2299 calls for service during the two weeks.
· MPD and Public Works (and a host of others) supported the JCHS Homecoming Parade on County Line Road.
· Court reports that New Magistrate Gladys Williams took her oath of office last week and Judge Aaron Ryan was appointed by council and sworn in.
· Court also opened 143 cases, closed 142, and issued 65 warrants during the two weeks.
· Thanks to our Public Works team for their many, many hours supporting the city during the multiple rain events that we had during the past two weeks.
· We held the ribbon cutting for The Avenue at Madison, the four story 190 unit complex in historic downtown Madison.
· We held a joint meeting between the city and schools concerning the traffic situations throughout the city at our various schools intersections. Several short term “fixes” were brainstormed and more detailed solutions defined.
I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend….thank you for your service to our citizens and city!
Respectfully,
Mayor Finley
In Closing
As always, I will be updating this blog every couple of weeks. Please check back during the the first quarter of 2021 for new information. You can also provide your email address in the box below for a subscription and be notified when the blog is updated I can be reached at Email Maura or 256.337.2408. Thank you again for your continued support!